Christmas in Legend and Story: A Book for Boys and Girls

By Elva Sophronia Smith

Elva SophroniaSmith (1871-1965) wrote this popular book that continues to be widely readtoday despite its age.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Krill Press
• Release date: May 11, 2016
• ISBN: 9781531269142

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world.

ILLUSTRATED FROM FAMOUS PAINTINGS

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1915

PREFACE

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IN OUR EXPERIENCE IN LIBRARY work with children we have learned that it is very difficult to find Christmas stories and legends which have literary merit, are reverent in spirit, and are also suitable for children. This collection has been made in an endeavor to meet this need, and thus to be of service to parents, teachers, and librarians.

Most of the stories and poems in this book are of the legendary type. They have been chosen from a wide variety of sources and represent the work of many writers. There are other stories also, which, although not strictly traditional, have the same reverent spirit and illustrate traditional beliefs and customs. These have been included for their literary value and their interest for young people.

In the arrangement of the selections we have followed the natural order of the events in preference to grouping the stories for boys and girls of different ages.

Although no attempt has been made to adapt the legends for story-telling, most of them may be used for that purpose. Many of the selections are also well suited for reading aloud.

Above all it is hoped that this book may bring real joy to the boys and girls for whom it has been compiled.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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The compilers wish to thank Mrs. Margaret Deland for permission to use

The Christmas Silence; Mrs. Etta Austin McDonald for her adaptation of

Coppée’s Sabot of Little Wolff from The Child Life Fifth Reader;

Josephine Preston Peabody for The Song of a Shepherd-Boy at Bethlehem;

Mrs. William Sharp for The Children of Wind and the Clan of Peace, by

Fiona Macleod; Nora Archibald Smith and the editors of the Outlook for

The Haughty Aspen; and the editors of Good Housekeeping Magazine,

Little, Brown & Company and Mrs. Velma Swanston Howard for her translation

of The Legend of the Christmas Rose, by Selma Lagerlöf, taken from Good

Housekeeping Magazine, copyright, 1907. Copyright, 1910, by Little, Brown

& Company.

Thanks are also due to the following publishers for permission to reprint poems and stories on which they hold copyright: The Century Company for four selections from St. Nicholas, The Little Gray Lamb by A.B. Sullivan, A Christmas Legend by Florence Scannell, Félix by Evaleen Stein, The Child Jesus in the Garden; The Churchman Company for The Blooming of the White Thorn by Edith M. Thomas; Doubleday, Page & Company for Neighbors of the Christ Night by Nora Archibald Smith; E.P. Dutton & Company for The Sin of the Prince Bishop by William Canton; Ginn & Company for Christmas Carol from Open Sesame; Mr. William Heinemann for The Flight into Egypt by Selma Lagerlöf; Houghton Mifflin Company for The Child Born at Bethlehem by H.E. Scudder, The Christmas Song of Caedmon by H.E.G. Pardee, The Little Mud-Sparrows by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps.

St. Christopher of the Gael and The Cross of the Dumb are included

through the courtesy of Messrs. Duffield & Company. From "Poems and

Dramas" by Fiona Macleod, copyright, 1901, 1903, 1907, by Thomas B.

Mosher; 1910 by Duffield & Company.

The selection Christmas at Greccio from God’s Troubadour by Sophie

Jewett is included by special arrangement with T.Y. Crowell Company. "The

Little Friend by Abbie Farwell Brown, Christmas Hymn" by R.W. Gilder,

The Three Kings by H.W. Longfellow, and The Star Bearer by E.C.

Stedman are included by special arrangement with Houghton Mifflin Company;

and The Three Kings of Cologne by Eugene Field, and "Earl Sigurd’s

Christmas Eve" by H.H. Boyesen, by special arrangement with Charles

Scribner’s Sons.

The story of St. Christopher is taken chiefly from the Golden Legend, but a few suggestions for its adaptation were obtained from a version by Olive Logan.

CHRISTMAS IN LEGEND AND STORY: THE GRACIOUS TIME

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ACCORDING TO TRADITION, ON THE Holy Night there fell upon Bethlehem of Judea a strange and unnatural calm; the voices of the birds were hushed, water ceased to flow and the wind was stilled. But when the child Jesus was born all nature burst into new life; trees put forth green leaves, grass sprang up and bright flowers bloomed. To animals was granted the power of human speech and the ox and the ass knelt in their stalls in adoration of the infant Saviour. Then it was that the shepherds abiding in the field with their flocks heard the angels praising God, and kings of the Orient watching in their far country saw ablaze in the heavens the long-expected sign. Even in distant Rome there sprang up a well or fountain which ran largely and the ancient prophetess, Sibyl, looking eastward from the Capitoline hill heard the angel song and saw in vision all the wonders of that night.

There are many such traditional tales of the nativity, of the star-led wizards and of the marvels wrought by the boy Christ. They tell of the bees singing their sweet hymn of praise to the Lord, of the palm-tree bending down its branches that the weary travellers fleeing from the wrath of Herod might be refreshed by its fruit, of the juniper which opened to conceal them and of the sweet-smelling balsam which grew wherever the drops of moisture fell from the brow of the Boy as He ran about or toiled in His loving service for His Mother. Quaint fancies some of these, perhaps, and not all of them worth preserving; but oftentimes beautiful, and with a germ of truth.

From the centuries between then and now, come stories of holy men, of bishops and peasant-saints, and of brave men who preached the White Christ to the vikings of the north or on Iona’s isle. As in popular belief, with each returning eve of the nativity the miracles of the first Christmas happen again, so in these tales the thorn-tree blossoms anew and wonderful roses bloom in the bleak forest.

Other stories tell how on each Christmas eve the little Christ-child comes again to earth and wanders through village or town, while lighted candles are placed in the windows to guide Him on His way.

These various legends and traditional tales, which sprang up among the people like flowers by the wayside and became a part of the life of the Middle Ages, are still of interest to us of to-day and have a distinct charm of their own. And when the childlike faith and beauty of thought of the finest of these have found expression in literary form they seem particularly suited for our reading at the gracious time.

THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS

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AND IT CAME TO PASS in those days, that there went out a decree from

Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.

And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; because he was of the house and lineage of David:

To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is

Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

THE CHILD BORN AT BETHLEHEM

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ABOUT SIX MILES TO THE south of Jerusalem is the village of Bethlehem, lying along the slope and on the top of a gray hill, from the steep eastern end of which one looks over a broad plain, toward a range of high hills beyond. At any time, as one drew near the place, coming from Jerusalem, he would pass by rounded hills, and now and then cross little ravines with brooks, sometimes full of water, sometimes only beds of stone; and, if it were spring-time, he would see the hills and valleys covered with their grass, and sprinkled abundantly with a great variety of wild flowers, daisies, poppies, the Star of Bethlehem, tulips and anemones—a broad sheet of color, of scarlet, white and green. Perhaps, very long ago, there were trees also where now there are none; and on those hills, gray with the stone that peeped out through the grass, stood the mighty cedars of Lebanon, stretching out their sweeping branches, and oaks, sturdy and rich with dark foliage, green the year round. At any rate, then, as now, we may believe that there were vineyards upon the sunny slopes, and we know that the wind blew over corn-fields covering the plains that lay between the ranges of hills.

It is of the time long since that we are thinking, when there were no massive buildings on Bethlehem hill, such as are to be seen in the town as it now appears. Instead, there were low houses, many of mud and sunburnt brick, some so poor, doubtless, that the cattle were stalled, if not in the same room with the people of the house, yet so near that they could be heard through the partition, stamping, and crunching their food. There was an inn there, also; but we must not think of it as like our modern public-houses, with a landlord and servants, where one could have what he needed by paying for it. Rather, it was a collection of buildings for the convenience and accommodation of travelers, who brought with them whatever they required of food, and the means of preparing it, finding there only shelter and the roughest conveniences. The larger inns of this sort were built in the form of a great courtyard surrounded by arcades, in which people stayed, and kept their goods, if they were merchants.

The inn at Bethlehem was not probably one of these great caravanserais,—as they are called now in the East, because caravans stop at them; and it is even possible that the stables about the inn were simply caves scooped out of the soft chalk rock, for the country there has an abundance of these caves used for this very purpose.

From the hill on which Bethlehem stands, one can see travelers approaching, and at that time, long ago, no doubt the people who lived there saw companies of travelers, on foot or mounted, coming up to the village. For it was a busy time in Judea. The Emperor at Rome, the capital of the world, had ordered a tax to be laid upon his subjects, and first it had to be known just who were liable to be taxed. Nowadays, and in our country, people have their names taken down at the door of their own houses, and pay their tax in the town where they live. But then, in Judea, it was different. If a man had always lived in one place, and his parents before him, well and good: there his name was taken down, and there he was taxed. But if he was of a family that had left another place, he went back to the old home, and there his name was registered. There were many, it may be, who at this time were visiting Bethlehem for this purpose.

At least, we know of two amongst these travelers; devout and humble people they were; Joseph, a carpenter, living in Nazareth, a village of Galilee, sixty miles or more to the northward, and Mary, his wife. Together they were coming to Bethlehem, for while Nazareth was now their home, they were sprung from a family that once lived in Bethlehem, and though they were now poor and lowly, that family was the royal family, and King David, the greatest king that ever sat on the Jewish throne, was their ancestor. Perhaps, as they climbed the hill, they thought of Ruth, who had gleaned in the corn-fields just where they were passing, and no doubt they thought of Ruth’s great-grandson, King David, who was born here, and here kept his father’s sheep,—such sheep as even now they could see on the hillsides, watched by the watching shepherds.

They came, like the rest, to the caravanserai, but found it already filled with travelers. They could not have room with other men and women, and yet there was shelter to be had, for the place where the horses and beasts of burden stood was not all taken up. It may be that many of those now occupying the inn had come on Joseph’s errand, and, not being merchants, had come unattended by the